A circle of radius 1 is tangent to a circle of radius 2. The sides of $\triangle ABC$ are tangent to the circles as shown, and the sides $\overline{AB}$ and $\overline{AC}$ are congruent. What is the area of $\triangle ABC$?

[asy]
unitsize(0.7cm);
pair A,B,C;
A=(0,8);
B=(-2.8,0);
C=(2.8,0);
draw(A--B--C--cycle,linewidth(0.7));
draw(Circle((0,2),2),linewidth(0.7));
draw(Circle((0,5),1),linewidth(0.7));
draw((0,2)--(2,2));
draw((0,5)--(1,5));
label("2",(1,2),N);
label("1",(0.5,5),N);
label("$A$",A,N);
label("$B$",B,SW);
label("$C$",C,SE);
[/asy]
Explanation: Let $O$ and $O'$ denote the centers of the smaller and larger circles, respectively. Let $D$ and $D'$ be the points on $\overline{AC}$ that are also on the smaller and larger circles, respectively. Since $\triangle ADO$ and $\triangle AD'O'$ are similar right triangles, we have \[
\frac{AO}{1}= \frac{AO'}{2}= \frac{AO+3}{2}, \quad\text{so}\quad AO = 3.
\]As a consequence, \[
AD = \sqrt{AO^2 - OD^2} = \sqrt{9-1}= 2\sqrt{2}.
\][asy]
unitsize(0.7cm);
pair A,B,C,F,D,G;
A=(0,8);
B=(-2.8,0);
C=(2.8,0);
F=(0,0);
D=(0.9,5.3);
G=(1.8,2.7);
draw(A--B--C--cycle,linewidth(0.7));
draw(Circle((0,2),2),linewidth(0.7));
draw(Circle((0,5),1),linewidth(0.7));
draw(A--F,linewidth(0.5));
label("$F$",F,S);
label("$O$'",(0,2),W);
label("$O$",(0,5),W);
label("2",(0.9,2.3),S);
label("1",(0.5,5.2),S);
label("$A$",A,N);
draw((0,5)--D,linewidth(0.5));
draw((0,2)--G,linewidth(0.5));
label("$D$'",G,NE);
label("$D$",D,NE);
label("$B$",B,SW);
label("$C$",C,SE);
[/asy]


Let  $F$ be the midpoint of $\overline{BC}$. Since $\triangle ADO$ and $\triangle AFC$ are similar right triangles, we have \[
\frac{FC}{1}= \frac{AF}{AD} = \frac{AO + OO' + O'F}{AD} = \frac{3 + 3 + 2}{2\sqrt{2}}= 2\sqrt{2}.
\]So the area of $\triangle ABC$ is \[
\frac{1}{2}\cdot BC\cdot AF = \frac{1}{2}\cdot 4\sqrt{2}\cdot 8 = \boxed{16\sqrt{2}}.
\]